Grand Canyon National Park’s first openly lesbian superintendent visits Boulder at Conference on World Affairs

The first openly lesbian superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park, Chris Lehnertz, came to CU Boulder on Friday. She talked about the future of the National Park Service and her role in fixing ongoing sexual harassment issues in the organization.

Moderated by Lori Bergen, founding dean of CU’s College of Media, Communication and Information, Lehnertz’s talk, titled “An Insider’s Scoop on America’s National Parks,” was part of this year’s Conference on World Affairs at CU.During the event, Lehnertz talked about park management, outreach and diversity efforts. She spoke openly about a sexual harassment scandal between park employees that came to light shortly before she was hired. The ensuing investigation uncovered a pattern of sexual harassment going back 15 years. In the wake of that investigation, Lehnertz’s main goal as superintendent is “to build a respectful and inclusive workplace.”